My new favourite- Dulce de Leche

Dulce de Leche is a popular decadent sweet caramel type sauce in Thermo world at the moment.
It used to be the boil in the can caramel made from sweetened condensed milk and boiled for a couple of hours on the stove.  If I hear about something  three times I tend to investigate it  (works for holiday destinations!)

Pronounce it  DULS SAY DE LETCHAY in any kind of Spanish, Portuguese, French or Latin American accent that takes your fancy.

 If I hear about something three times I tend to investigate

With a Thermomix you can whip it up in 50 minutes  and its ready to pour quite neatly into a couple of jars for use with a spoon (if you know what I mean.) Anyhow the Thermo does all the work for you - reducing, browning and caramelising in its set and forget type of way. (You do need to put the steaming basket on top  to stop the splashes while it mixes away). 1 Litre of milk, the two sugars, cream and bicarb made two jars of this delectable sauce. 

I tried the recipe from the ForumThermomix.com Dulche de Leche

What can you use it for???

Whip this  up when you don't want to just take chocolates

If you don't eat it all off the spoon you could try...

• caramel sauce in cakes, biscuits or waffles, 
• filling for small caramel tarts
• sauce over or through icecream 
• spread it over pancakes or on your morning toast 

Do you  think it could go well inside a muffin?

I quickly whipped up a jar last night to take to a friend's place as a "thankyou " when you are told not to bring a thing.

While a bit of fancy ribbon and cellophane would have dressed it up - my host's not the eat it off the spoon type of girl so I made some shortbread tart cases and some shortbread bikkies to go with it.  Yummmm.

If you are dairy free you don't miss out . Quirky Jo told us about her version  Quirky Jo's Dairy Free Dulce De Leche

Hope you enjoy your new treat - get practising DULS SAY DE LETCHAY,
DULS SAY DE LETCHAY, DULS SAY DE LETCHAY
cheers Robyn

Thermomix baby rusks

My daughter is just up to the baby food/ teething stage with little Oliver (or Lollie or Ovilla) depending the language development of the cousins.
She's really happy with these rusks found on the recipe community which cooked in 30 minutes Baby Rice Rusks

After grinding the rice for 30 seconds , add in a banana and form into shapes

Make up your own shapes and a couple extra for the preschooler

and I think they are a hit with little Ollie too

If you are just cooking for one- freeze a few 

 Happy chewing darling from  (Thermo) Nanny

Indulge but be environmentally friendly.....

I've got an interest in sustainability, food waste and recycling. No need to tell you the statistics for thrown out food. I'm sure we are already crushing down our bins.
So relevant at this time of year. Boxing Day is National Leftovers Day. Take a look at this site, stick it in your memory box for next year.... she says as she is still eating the chicken and pork roulade from Festive Flavours which made heaps..... lol

Foodwise Foodwaste- National Leftovers Day  They even have some great suggestions for using up leftover herbs, lemons, breads etc

The Thermomix Festive Flavours Cookbook provided many recipes

 What are your secrets for cutting down on waste? There are only so many meals which can be dished up breakfast, lunch and tea for more than two days. And there are often so many "what a waste" salads, fruits, meats competing with plastic and rubbish in the bins.

I plan not to shop as there is plenty in the fridge and  freezer 

 

I'm having a New Year Pizza and Pav night which will be incorporating leftovers- I plan not to shop as there is plenty in the fridge and  freezer ( salami, vegies, cheese, ham and fruits for the Pav). Would you believe there is even frozen pizza base?

My top 6 tips for a waste free holiday season.

• Cook sweets with a long life or plan to whip up desserts with items which have at least a  January shelf life such as pastry cases, fruit cakes, Pavlova eggs, tinned or preserved fruit.
• Have a few standby salad recipes which use "pantry salad" items eg chick peas, noodles, nuts, pasta, quinoa, rice etc
• Buy Loose Fruit and Vegetables. Purchase  fruit and vegetables like tomatoes, capsicums bananas in  quantities that you need rather than bags of tomatoes, capsicums, mushrooms). 
• Source lemons, rosemary, herbs from neighbours and "borrow" only what you need.
• Share with friends. Cut roasts in half, divide up boxes of seafood. Offer some to neighbours or those who only cook for themselves and need small portions. 
• Portion control- a meat recipe which says "feeds 8 portions" will be plenty for twenty for lunch if other meals are being provided. Make smaller sized tarts, pastries even rum balls.  Coordinate meals with guests. Don't be afraid to not dish out a salad or dessert. Cut down on the befores.

LOVE YOUR LEFTOVERS!  

If you have a Thermomix  then you'll know what to do with left overs. Head to the Facebook pages or recipe community for suggestions. Be food safe.

• fruits, berries, cream-  pancakes
• cream- freeze or make butter
• yoghurt- savoury dishes, dipping sauces or cakes 
• milk- make yogurt
• meats, vegetable, antipasto, cheese- make pizza,  risotto, pies, quiches, fritters
• stone fruits, pineapple, bananas, berries or citrus- add ice and serve up sorbets 

Check out the Love Food Hate Waste website

Lastly- recycle interesting bottles and jars to use for hamper items on Mother's Day or next Christmas.

Tis the season for hampers.......

We hamper lovers are great people to gift to  because you can give us the same thing again next year.  

These treats act as bring a plates and hamper items- everyone likes a rum ball

I like receiving a hamper. We aren’t a gift giving family as we do a decent Secret Santa instead. Occasionally my husband’s boss sends us  a hamper or we receive a thankyou gift from an acquaintance or grateful client. 

After Christmas my husband and I seek out the treats to snack on during those long summer nights- nuts, morsels of cake, chocolates. Any alcohol is demolished in the first few days as are the plates of home cooking we’ve been lucky enough to receive from family and friends each year. Auntie Pat’s Almond Bread was always the first to be savoured. 

Make a little extra for yourself or emergencies

More so in my playgroup days when we were cooking for multiple end of year functions some of my friends got into the spirit of things and  shared a box, tin or plate of their specialty. One friend and I sent the same container back and forward for years until it broke.

Times have changed- people have plenty and ideas for gifts are few and far between. Some people are time poor and cashed up double incomes buy the first thing in site. Age old Christmas cooking traditions have been lost. 

Step up the Thermomix and the incredibly inspiring and helpful communities of people who share recipes, resources, tips.  The Thermo has made us confident and enabled quick cooking solutions. Desserts  are whipped up in minutes, fudges cooked in a flash.  Members of the facebook support groups trouble shoot , photograph even post hard to find items. In addition there are an incredible number of bloggers who email out recipe links for yummy Christmas ideas.  

Forget the Department store hampers which are overpriced. Instead build up a repertoire of jams, relishes and even scrubs. Plonk in a bottle of homemade Baileys. Mass produce this effort and teachers’, colleagues’, Grannies’ and Secret Santa gifts are sorted. Believe me there are sites out there covering recipes for gifts for everyone from vegetarian to  dairy free and allergic to fussy and everything in between.

British Spice Rub from Festive Flavours with herbs sourced locally

BBQ specialties Caramelised Onion Jam , Red Onion Relish and Beetroot and Orange Relish

From me friends and relatives are receiving the tried and true and much anticipated  Robyn’s Shortbread Bikkies. I haven't 100% Thermofied my recipe yet but they tell me Grandma's Shortbread from the Recipe community is great and works well when stamping.  Most of my friends holiday at this time and BBQs are the meal of choice as they spend time with their families. So relishes and rubs are also waiting under the tree and the rest will end up on the Christmas table with our gourmet Thermomix Christmas Dinner.   See my Gourmet BBQ sauce recipe

5 tips for avoiding hamper hassle.

•  Write your hamper gift list, decide on recipes and nessities early in the year.
•  Search for ideas on Pinterest, Christmas sites and recipes books well in advance
•  Source or save jars , bottles and gift containers well beforehand  (buy up marked down decorations, Christmas labels in January if possible)  Search for suitable jars, interesting bottles, bowls, containers and baskets at Op shops during the year. Order online early.
•  Calculate quantities so when you are inspired you are ready to make items.  (We all know inspiration happens when the shops are closed or the babies are asleep.
• Work out wrappings and other fillers early.

Closed facebook groups who will Gladly accept you when you request membership.
These are great for inspiration, recipe  and tip sharing. Thanks for all your support and advice.

• THERMOMIX TM5 HINTS.TIPS AND RECIPES
• Thermo Xmas Gift Ideas
• Cooking with Tenina

Blogs for recipes and ideas for fudge etc
These are my favourites for hamper recipe sites. There are so many to choose from. Dont forget the Thermomix Recipe Community .

• Thermofun
• The Road to Loving My Thermomix 
• The 4 Blades
• The Super Kitchen Machine  

My blog is nearly one year old ... thanks for reading along....  Merry Christmas to you all 

Robyn xxxx   

Muffin Magic

I'm a tight wad.. My last lot of muffin patty cases - nothing fancy mind you- cost $3.26 for 100. They are just giant patty cases and they cost 3 and a bit cents each!

Inspired by some every good buys at the reduced for quick sale at Woolies I was having a competition with myself to make the cheapest muffins I could find with my 25c tub of coffee yoghurt.

Having hit upon the 20 Second Coffee Yoghurt Cake recipe which is so cheap to make I was determined to cut the 39c cost of the patty papers for 1 dozen coffee muffins. Lots of my facebook friends didn't get it . "You can get them at Coles Robyn" they said.


So I researched making muffin cases like the ones you see in the fancy coffee shops. However a Youtube or two and a search of Mr Google solved the problem - and no petrol needed.


Here's how to do it....
Find a glass or tin that fits snuggly into your muffin tin
Cut 12.5cm  (or 5 inches) squares of baking paper.
Centre the square over the tin or glass 

Use a Glass or Tin

Press firmly with both hands and crease the paper into a mould-your paper cup is formed
Scoop or pipe (could you be bothered?) your mixture  into the cup and cook as per instructions

Paper muffin cup ready for filling

(Here's the great bit)
Any little spills easily crack off the baking paper to help with presentation. For Mini muffins use a shot glass and a slightly smaller square.

If you use the Coffee Yoghurt Cake recipe from my  blog -you actually get 15 substantial looking muffins for $2.01= 13c each.  All for less than a muffin at a Cafe.

I'm so impressed with myself I'm going to take my savings and add a large handful of choc chips next time.

Keep cooking...

Professional looking Coffee Yoghurt Muffins

The Butter vs Margarine debate.... now that's a can of worms

Since entering the cooking frenzy that owning a Thermomix creates, I’ve joined plenty of cooking sites. Not previously big on cake making I’ve been experimenting with the particularly quick cakes – see my previous blog- Cakes whipped up in 10 seconds

However I was concerned at the amount of butter we seemed to be consuming. Being in the mature age category one comes up against the cholesterol numbers from time to time and I’d hate a big heart clogging consequence of my new found cooking frenzy. I expressed my concern on the cooking site and received the wrath of the margarine haters including Superkylz, my daughter. I investigated further.

Housewives of the 70s were no different to modern housewives- the debate was always the benefits of cooking results with butter vs margarine

Also being of the at certain mature age I remember the “you ought to be congratulated “campaign of the 70s and 80s when margarine swept across the nation and became the healthier substitute for butter because it was made out of vegetable oils.  1984-You-Ought-To-Be-Congratulated ad

Anyhow I did a bit of research and shock horror some margarines are not all that much better than butter- especially when they are made from animal fats. I’ve always used Fairy Margarine for cooking  (I think my Dad or one of his friends had shares in it) In hind sight I remember the rumour as a young one that it was really a lower cost butter substitute.  

Housewives of the 70s were no different to modern housewives- the debate was always the benefits of cooking results with butter vs margarine and the Meadow Lea campaign supported the mother who used it for cooking. I’m a bit of a cost based cooker. I preferred margarine for cost and KJ and rarely read the labels. 

I’ve always found butter user unfriendly for spreadability. (I’m not fussed about leaving it out of the fridge and truly I’m not that organised to take it out in advance of cooking.) A nice soft spreadable margarine is easier for spreading on bread and quickly frying an egg, onion etc. 

Shock horror- Fairy has similar Kilojoules as butter

A Google search on butter vs margarine will send you everywhere and while I don’t believe I’m eating petrol or plastic as some claim I had been enlightened and I began to read the labels. Any way it turns out Fairy and Woollies cooking margarine is shock horror made of animal fats. The kilojoule count for the cooking margarine and butter is 3040-80kj per hundred grams.

A light Olive oil spread option  got the Heart Foundation tick but it wasn’t recommended for baking. 

Meanwhile I had a few disappointments on the Thermo cakes e and decided to try a softer option to use for creaming butter and sugar.

The St Vincent de Paul Welfare Centre I volunteer at  gives out an Aldi Pure Vita Canola Spread which is Heart Foundation approved and only 99c for 500g. I read the label and while it contains Canola and vegetable oil it does also list some of the nasties such as colour and flavours. On the positive side it’s 2410kg per 100g which is 21% less Kj.  It is also derived from non GM Canola seeds.

You can see how light these mini muffins are

I tried it in my 30 Second Orange Cake and was very pleased with the lightness and it maintained its freshness for longer. It worked OK in my Yoghurt Cake and Yoghurt Cake Muffins too. 

To take the experiment a little further I used a Woolworths Homebrand Canola Spread.  At a bargain $1.60 for 1Kg it has less Canola and more Palm Oil (not so good for the environment). It has a much softer consistency than the Aldi brand and didn’t mix as well in the Thermo blades. I tried it with a short pastry mix too- not entirely satisfied. Based on advice from the Thermo community on Facebook I added a second orange and the cake and muffins were the best yet. The extra orange made the cake even moister and extended the mixture enough to make 12 mini muffins – perfect for the grandkids' afternoon tea!!

Some of the butter, margarines and spreads compared

The  30 Second Whole Orange Cakewas originally found on the recipe community. I’ve modified it with the second orange as follows an it is optional to reduce the amount of sugar.

30 Second Orange Cake  Serves 12-15

2 whole Oranges cut into quarters

225g butter or Canola spread

3eggs

200g or less of raw sugar

300g SR Flour

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease a ring tin or a round cake tin.

Place butter or Canola spread into Thermomix bowl and mix for 7 seconds at Speed 8

Add Sugar, eggs and SR flour and combine 20 seconds Reverse speed 4

Pour into cake tin and bake for 50-60 minutes or until skewer comes out clean- see variation below.

Hint:

Mixture was enough for cake and 12 mini muffins (adjust cooking time accordingly).

You could add poppy seeds to make Orange and Poppy Seed Muffins/ Cake

Ice if necessary

 butter or margarine?

To each their own- make your own decision about butter or margarine but if cost, heart smart and KJ are important then the Aldi’s Canola Spread is a viable option.

I’ve costed the Orange cake as follows- but at this time of year you could reduce the cost of oranges by 50c if you score a few fresh oranges from a friend’s tree like I did. Stick a few quartered ones in the freezer too.

• Made with butter $4.12
• Made with  Aldi Pura Vita Canola Spread $2.37
• Made with Woolworths Homebrand Canola Spread  $2.27

Happy cooking

Robyn

Cakes whipped up in 10 seconds.. now that's fast food

I love a tasty cake and icing sugar, jam and cream shouldn't really make up the taste.While a working mother the "like mother used to make " cakes that involved creaming butter and sugar, delicate addition of eggs were replaced by packet mixes and/or reduced for quick sale bought cakes.
While packet cakes have come a long way  I object to paying over three dollars for a box of what basically amounted to flour and some artificial flavouring especially when you were then asked to then add oil, milk and several eggs.
Since buying my Thermomix I'm in cake heaven. I'm loving the 10 second, 20 second  and thirty second all in cakes such as the Coconut bread, Golden syrup cake and the 30 Second Orange cake.

Since buying my Thermomix I'm in cake heaven.

As a regular volunteer at several places now it nice to take a little morning tea treat to fellow volunteers or an afternoon snack or freshly baked  little lunch to the grandkids' house.

Here's my favourites

(10 second) Coconut bread- cost  $1.75 approx
If this cake lasts long enough it toasts up quite well like banana bread. The toasted coconut smell is amazing. This  10 Second Coconut Bread recipe was originally found here but here's my Nanny version.. I reckon you could easily add chocolate chips or raspberries for a nice alternative. I'm waiting for some nice frozen Aussie ones to come on the market.
Prep: line a loaf tin with baking paper and preheat over to 180 degrees C

80g desiccated coconut
90g sugar
150g self raising flour
35g oil
250g milk

Method:

Measure ingredients into Thermomix bowl

(This is why it is called The 10 Second Cake) Mix for 10 seconds on speed 5

Pour your batter into the tin and bake for 20-25 minutes at 180 degrees. You can test the cake with a skewer to see if it is cooked through

Ice if desired when cool - some tropical flavour such as lemon or lime or orange would be nice

Coconut Bread

(10 second) Marmalade cake: cost $2.04 approx
Having a surplus of homemade marmalade and no time to ice cakes saw this little invention. Yum

Prep:Line a large loaf tin with foil. Spray or grease the foil. Spread a layer of marmalade over the bottom of the tin. sprinkle a handful of coconut over the marmalade. Heat oven to 180 degrees C.

Ingredients:

400g SR flour
500g milk 

90g oil
80g golden syrup
50g sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

(How easy is this?)
Measure all the ingredients into your Thermomix bowl .
Mix on speed 6 until combined.
Pour onto your marmalade and coconut mix.
Bake for 40-60 minutes .
Carefully peel off the foil, cool and enjoy.

The volunteers looooved this one....

20 Second Yoghurt Coffee Cake: cost $2.01  approx
This cake was a modification of another yoghurt cake after an impulse purchase of reduced for quick sale coffee flavoured yoghurt 4 tubs for a $1. You could add chocolate chips for a mocha twist.
Prep: grease a large ring tin and preheat oven to 170 degrees C

Ingredients:
165 g raw sugar
2Tb instant coffee mixed in a little water
2 eggs
180 g yoghurt, Natural or coffee flavoured
130 g vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
275 g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb soda

Method:

Place all the batter ingredients into the Thermomix bowl and blend for 20 seconds on Speed 5.
Check  the mix, scrape the bowl and mix a few extra seconds if necessary
Pour into the prepared tin.
Bake at 170C for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out dry.
Ice with coffee or chocolate icing if desired.

Save a little from the tin for a Yoghurt Coffee Muffin

The volunteers also loved the 30 second Orange Cake found on theThermomix Recipe Community  It's a great use of all those spare citrus at this time of year and yes... you do throw in the whole (quartered ) orange skin and all. One word sums up this cake. Delicious.

Happy cooking...See my next story on the Muffins.

Playdough fun

I've been making play dough for 35 years- since the days of playgroups in halls and not coffee shops.  The old method of cook and stir in the pot saw a few browned or crunchy balls of dough when despite the best intentions I got distracted.

Imagine my delight when I discovered it was possible to make play dough in next to no time in the Thermomix.

Since getting the Thermo I've tried a couple of different recipes and heeded the advice of some to add a little extra flour as recipes developed in WA are a little wetter in the Eastern states due to humidity.

Despite the ease of the Thermomix most variations in the final product have been from me getting carried away multi tasking. It's a pretty forgiving output. A little bit of extra kneading seems to overcome most issues or more flour if too sticky.  It keeps well in a plastic slider bag in the fridge and even a couple of hours left out on the play table isn't a problem as the oil rehydrates the dough for use another day. It's ready for use week after week.

This is a cheap and easy standby for any grandparent, aunt, uncle, parent. Just add cookie cutters, plastic cutlery, kitchen utensils, cars, blocks, lids or what ever makes a dint, shape etc. You are limited only by your imagination and the  "kiddies "of all ages may come up with zillions of  different variations of plasticine shapes and models.

The Thermomix Playdough from the EDC is not included in the TM5 BCB so here it is my version:

250g water
100 g of cooking salt (milled slightly)
1 Tb Cream of Tartar
250 g Plain Flour
20g cooking oil eg canola or vegetable
food colouring

Place water, salt, cream of tartar and a strong amount of colouring into mixing bowl. Heat for 5 minutes at 60degrees on Speed 3 - check that salt is dissolved.
Add flour and oil to bowl and mix on speed 4 for 40- 60 seconds until well combined and coloured. Knead in extra flour if too sticky.
Store in a zip lock bag.  

78 cents a batch - WHAT A BARGAIN

 COST: One batch of Playdough will cost approx 78c, provides hours of fun and lasts for weeks.

This playdough could have been more vibrant. Add heaps of colouring.

A few tips and tricks for playdough:

• To avoid having coloured hands- mix the colour in with the water in the beginning step.  Add lots of colour drops to make a strong colour.
• Make a second batch if you want a second colour. ( Be warned it is not easy to keep different colours from mixing together )
• For one child use half a ball of dough at a time unless you are "playing" too. Send the other half home with mum!!!
• Add glitter  or sand for a fun effect.
• Mix it up -sausage people one time, cookie cutters another, cooking games like making pizzas the next time.
• Have a range of  shapes, cutters, rollers, scissors etc. Bottle tops, pasta, patty papers and any other craft materials will extend the fun and stimulate the child's development, speech, creativity and motor skills

Ariah makes animals, food and biscuits when she gets the playdough out each week.

A few years ago I once used Rock salt instead of cooking salt and didn't dissolve it enough  It looked like I was hiding some drugs in the playdough. That was an interesting batch!

What's your favourite playdough activity?

Open wide come inside it's.....

Little Ariah comes to ours  once a week. She's getting used to the routine. Nanny's chocolate milkshakes, Nanny's ipad for ABC for kids and a spot of cooking. Funny, she reacts to the sound of the Thermo and comes running for a "milkshake Nanny". She's her mother's daughter- Superkylz used to always come running at the sound of mixer beaters.

Superkylz used to always come running at the sound of mixer beaters

 

This week The Thermo Nanny created the ultimate Play School experience- cooking, painting,counting,craft and singing.

A great standby for snack making is a $10 electric donut maker which really makes little bite sized cakes. It's a sandwich maker style cake/donut maker. Just blitz up the cake ingredients in the Thermo for 10 seconds, cook and ice. Sometimes they are eaten so quickly off the production line they only get a dunking in sugar and cinnamon.

Mini Donut Maker Recipe

1 1/2 cup plain flour
1/2  cup caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
125 g butter softened
1 egg
3/4 cup milk 

Method

Mix together speed 5 until smooth (about 10 seconds)

After making the donut cake mix we used my second bowl to make the icing (milled sugar, chocolate powder and water heated for one minute). We mixed and cooked and painted the icing on.

Small quantities of the chocolate icing were poured into a small cup and Little Ariah "painted" the cakes with a silicon pastry brush. A small plastic lid was used to measure out the coconut and sprinkles. Great fun.

The cakes were decorated (sometimes over and over) with coconut and sprinkles.

It  keeps up the little one's interest because 6 cakes come off the machine in 3 minutes, another 6 are loaded and by then the first 6 are cool enough to paint on the icing.  Repeat the process. It only makes 24 so all up it is pretty quick.

Then it developed into a real playschool experience.

This activity ticks a lot of boxes

A quick wash of  hands and face led to water play and bubbles. Miss Two had a great time and she's worked out how to put the tap on and off, squeeze out the cloth and wash up!

While plating up we practised the Happy Birthday song for Big Sister India. Little Ariah was delighted to present her sisters India and Keyala with afternoon tea at the school pickup.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY INDIA

Thermo Jams and Pickles Blitz the Fete

The taste of gourmet homemade jam or chutney is incomparable to any commercially produced product. Since getting the Thermomix I've dabbled with jams and savoury sauces. Previously, my sole speciality was  Homemade BBQ sauce.  I dabbled a bit with a few other onion sauces for a previous school fete. Such was the buzz of the 2013 jam stall at St Joseph's Bulli Easter Fair many were keen to help at this years stall. Plus there were a few people keen to see what the Thermo could do.


Superkylz and I have been trying new jam and relish recipes since getting our Thermomixes last year. Truly you can google any combination of jam or pickle and up comes a recipe eg Chilli Pumpkin Chutney. If you are really lucky add  "Thermomix recipe" to the search and someone will have converted a traditional recipe or added a modern version of an old one eg Beetroot and Orange Relish.

With the fete in mind I did up several bottles of summer BBQ condiments over Christmas - some for me and some for the fete- by the time of the Fete I had quite an assortment.

Some of the assortment of pickles, relishes and jams- I've impressed myself

Superkylz and her friends on the jam stall committee who also liked to cook took it a step further. They planned a Thermomix jam making night but who can resist blitzing up a few cocktails first.
So after a thirsty night making cocktails and jam they had some to take home and plenty to sell. This fuelled the fire of enthusiasm as the stall had around 400 jars of everything from dukkah to passata to sell on the day.

I think it was the "favourite" stall  at the fete with tasting samples adding to the interest and excitement.  The girls had bonded during their (Ahem) cooking nights  and word had got around that they had had a pretty good time preparing their wares for sale. No trouble getting volunteers for this stall.

Some of the the Jam Ladies having fun at the St Joseph's Bulli Fete

Lessons learnt when running the  homemade jams and preserves stall

• Save left over jam batches in small jars for tasters and samples. Come armed with bread, biscuits, spoons and little sticks for sampling. Watch the jars fly off the stall.
• Source some in-season produce eg passionfruit for Passionfruit Butter. 
• Watch your costs. Basil Pesto may seem like a good idea when Basil is in abundance but the cost of pine nuts and Parmesan will not provide a good return. Pear jam should be made when pears are cheap or in fruit.
• Savoury flavours are still popular and in demand. Zucchini Pickles, Red Onion relishes, chili sauces are popular as are home made passatas and pasta sauces. Cheese platter jams and jellies are popular.
• Print professional looking  labels with descriptions and ingredient lists. This can be done by a central coordinator. Don't forget one of the ingredients is "love" or "passion"
• Source medium sized jars and interesting looking jars (gift packs from Christmas) Soak off the labels as early as possible. 
• Cover the jams with fabric or fancy paper held on by elastic bands or curling ribbon. Brown paper and string gives a country look.
• Sugar free jam is not as popular as you would think but Watermelon Jam is a hit.
• Try a bit of "cross promotion" with the Morning Tea Stall.

The jam stall girls got away with charging $6 a jar or 4 for $20. Later as the smaller jars remained they still got a reasonable return when they reduced the prices.  Everything was sold.

Converting old recipes...I find I have more control using a cup to measure as I'm short. 
Here's my Homemade (Gourmet) BBQ Sauce converted for cooking in the Thermomix. 
1 cup of finely chopped onion (hand cut if you want it chunkier)
4Tbs brown sugar
2 tsp salt
2 pinches Cayenne pepper
2 tsp Mustard
2 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup Vinegar
1 cup Tomato Sauce
1 cup water
1/2 cup pickles
Chop the onion, combine all ingredients. Cook for 40 minutes on Varoma Speed 1

Suggestion: If making the chunky version put it in jars for spooning on to steak and sausages - This chunky and  tasty sauce but can clog up in the bottle neck. If you blitz the onion it flows better from the bottle. If you like the thicker sauce use the basket on top of the Thermo to prevent spills and release some liquid. If you use the Measuring cup on the lid the sauce will be wetter but flows better from the bottle.
Makes: approx 3-4 small bottles or jars. Keep in fridge or pantry for 6 months (if it lasts that long).

Home Made BBQ Sauce